A known channeled structural member consists of a rectangular metal member having in one face a longitudinal slot bordered by inwardly projecting flanges. In the use of this channeled structural member, fittings of various kinds are secured to the slotted face by arranging within the channel a nut adapted to cooperate with a screw or bolt passing through the fitting and into the nut.
One form of nut used for this purpose, described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,696,139 of Attwood, is provided with grooves equispaced with the inturned flanges of the above-mentioned channel and provided with teeth in the grooves. The nut is also provided with a spring to hold the nut against the channel flanges prior to affixing parts to the channel member. A variation is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,049,161 of Attwood. This variation has teeth in a groove on one side of the nut surface and a sharp edge on the other side thereof. U.S. Pat. No. 3,053,355 of Attwood describes a nut with sharp edges on both sides of the nut for gripping the channel flanges, but has no provision for properly positioning the nut in the channel member. Other references which disclose nuts for securing parts to channel members are U.S. Pat. No. 3,483,910 of LaLonde et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,493,025 of LaLonde et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,146,074 of Kowalski, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,285,379 of Kowalski.